Snapbolt



Dec. 4, 1962 w. E. ATKINSON SNAPBOLT jled Aug. 15, 1960 I K. i

INVENTOR lifillaw it 1:22am! W M; ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,066,966 NAPBOLT Wailace E. Atkinson, Petersburg, Va, assignor to Long Manufacturing Company, inc, Petersburg, Va., a corporation of Virginia Filed Aug. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 49,52 2 Claims. (Cl. 292-246) The present invention relates to snapbolts or catches for luggage, trunks, dispatch cases and like containers.

Heretofore, snapbolt or catch assemblies of the class to which the present invention relates as customarily constructed have included a keeper unit to be secured to the front of the lower section or bottom of luggage adjacent the plane of separation between the bottom and hinged cover section having a raised or outwardly projecting tongue or post, and a hasp or bolt unit secured to the front of the hinged cover section having a generally box-shaped raised body or spring housing which projects outwardly from the front of the luggage cover and encases a spring and a U-shaped hasp, having legs and a connecting bridge or cross-piece adapted to encircle three sides of the raised body, the legs being pivotally hinged to the raised body by means of trunnions located near the upper ends of the legs and projecting inwardly into accommodating recesses in the raised body. A recurved leaf spring nested within the raised body bears against the end portions of the trunnions projecting into the interior chamber of the body, and the trunnions are so shaped in cross-section to interact with the spring and progressively compress the same through a portion of the Opening arc of the hasp to resiliently bias the hasp to fully closed or fully open position. The bridge or cross-piece is spaced sufiiciently from the trunnions and the adjacent end or bottom of the raised body to define a socket for the reception of the keeper tongue or post.

While this has been the usual construction of such snapbolts for many years, this construction has several well-recognized disadvantages. Because of the separation between the upper ends and trunnion-bearing por tions of the U-shaped hasp, the hasp stamping or casting is inherently weak in this region and gives rise to frequent failure or breakage of the catch when subjected to the stresses to which the devices are subjected during use of the luggage. Also, such a construction presents difiicult problems in manufacture, as the legs of the hasp must be spread apart sufficiently to permit the full width of the raised body to be passed upwardly between the adjacent ends of the trunnions until the trunnions are in registry with the recesses in the sides of the raised body, and then these ends of the hasp legs must be forced toward each other to project them into the recesses. These steps obviously complicate the assembly process and consume time.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel snapbolt construction which is free of the abovedescribed disadvantages characteristic of prior art constructions.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel snapbolt construction having a raised spring housing body and a resiliently biased hasp hinged thereto having a pair of vertical legs and a lower, interconnecting bridge portion to extend about the sides and bottom of the raised body and provide a socket for the reception of a keeper post, and an uninterrupted hinge bar spanning the tops of the legs to extend through the raised body and form the hinge connection therewith.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel snapbolt construction having a raised spring housing body and a resiliently biased hasp hinged thereto in the form of a closed rectangular loop providing an eye for the reception of a portion of the housing body 3,t 66,966 Patented Dec. 4, 1962 and a keeper post therethrough wherein one leg or side of the loop projects through the body to form a hinge connection therewith, thereby avoiding the weakening associated with trunnion hinge connections,

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel snapbolt construction of the character described in the preceding paragraph, wherein the spring housing body is a raised box-like member having a bendable tongue forming an extension of the front wall thereof which may be readily bent over and rearwardly of the hinge bar-forming leg of the loop when the latter is nested in the hinge recesses of the body to retain the snapbolt components in assembled condition.

Other objects, advantages, and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detail description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a snapbolt constructed in accordance with the present invention, shown in mounted position on fragmentary portions of a suitcase;

FEGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the snapbolt;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevation thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section view thereof, taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, the snapbolt assembly of the present invention indicated generally by the reference character 10 comprises a keeper member 11 stamped from sheet metal including a mounting plate portion '12 having a front wall 13 and peripheral, inwardly directed flanges 14 to space the front wall 13 appropriately from the front of the associated lower suitcase section 15 and give an attractive massive appearance to the keeper member, and a raised keeper post portion 16, here shown to be of generally rectangular configuration which is integral with the front wall 13 of the mounting plate portion 12 and has a bottom wall 17, side walls 18 and a top wall 19 terminating at its inner edge in an upwardly projecting tongue or extension 19a.

The hasp of bolt unit, generally designated by the reference character 21, is designed to be mounted on the hinged cover lid 20 of the suitcase, and comprises a raised, box-like housing or body portion 22- stamped from sheet metal and having a generally rectangular configuration including sides 23 and a bottom 24. A pair of oppositely projecting mounting panel portions 25 and 26 extending in laterally flanking relation from the sides 23 of the body portion and includes front walls 27 and peripheral, inwardly projecting flanges 28. The bottom 24 of the raised body portion 22 includes a recess 29 conforming to the cross-section of the keeper post tongue 19a and the upper ends of the sides 23 are recessed or cut away as indicated at 30 to form hinge recesses for the hinge joint with the hasp 31.

The hasp 31 in the preferred embodiment herein illustrated is in the form of a closed, rectangular loop generally resembling a buckle and includes vertical side legs 32, 33 spaced apart a sufficient distance to accommodate the raised body portion 22 therebetween, a bottom crosspiece or keeper-engaging bar 34 spanning between the lower ends of the side legs 32, 33 and. a top bar 35 paralleling the bottom bar 34 and connecting the upper ends of the legs 32, 33. The outer peripheries of the legs 32, 33 and the lower peripery of the bottom bar 34 are provided with inwardly directed flanges to give an appearance of massiveness to the hasp, which is stamped from thin sheet metal. The top bar 35, however, is of simple rectangular cross-section having considerably greater width in the general plane of the hasp than thickmess to form a hinge bar for the hasp.

The raised body. portion also includes a bendable tongue or extension 36 which in the original stamping extends upwardly from the top edge of the front wall 37 of the raised body portion 22 and may be of substantially the'width of the front wall 37 over at least the immediately adjoining portion of the extension. This bendable tongue 36 serves as the top wall of the raised body portion 22 in the assembled structure to retain the hasp 31 in assembled condition and additionally extends down at least a portion of the back of the chamber defined with the raised body portion to maintain the other components in assembled relation.

The hasp unit is assembled by simply passing the eye 38 of the hasp 31 over the tongue 36 and fitting the top bar portion 35 of the hasp 31 into the recesses provided at the upper ends of the side walls 23. A recurved leaf spring 39 is then seated in the chamber provided by the raised body portion 22 and the bendable tongue 36 folded rearwardly over the top of the top bar of the hasp and downwardly behind the leaf spring 33 to secure the leaf spring between the tongue 36 and front Wall 37. The leaf spring 39 has a front leg 44) terminating in a lip 41 to bear against the rear of and lap over the top bar 35 of the hasp 31 and a rear leg 42 joined to the front leg by the downwardly disposed bight 43 resting against the bottom wall 24 of the raised body portion 22. Due to the greater Width of the top hasp bar 35 relative to its thickness, the front leg ii} of the leaf spring 39 will be forced rearwardly as the hasp is pivoted outwardly and upwardly from its closed or catch position until the hasp or bar 35 passed beyond perpendicular relation to the front face of the raised body portion 22 whereupon the leaf spring 39 will urge the hasp to the fully open or release position indicated by broken lines in FIGURE 4. When the hasp 31 is below the perpendicular or center position in its opening or closing arc, the leaf spring will resiliently bias the hasp to fully closed position wherein the eye 38 will pass over the keeper post 16 and the lower bar 34 extending below the keeper post will retain the keeper and hasp units against movement away from each other.

Both the keeper and hasp units are to be afiixed to the associated base and lid of the suitcase by suitable fastening means such as the screws 44.

It will be apparent that by virtue of the closed loop construction of the hasp 31 wherein the hinge bar 35 forms an integral bridge between the upper end of the side legs 32, 33, a much stronger construction is obtained relative to prior art snapbolts having U-shaped hasps and trunnion hinge joints, thus providing a unit which will have much longer life. Furthermore, this unit is far easier to assemble, as exposure and accessibility of the recesses 30 and rear and top of the raised body portion 22 when the bendable tongue 36 in its initial position permits the top hasp bar 35 to be readily fitted into the recess 30, the hasp spring 39 to be inserted in the chamber defined by the raised body portion 22, and these components secured in assembled condition by bending the tongue 36 rearwardly and downwardly about them to form a top wall and a portion of a rear wall of the raised body portion 22.

While but one specific embodiment of the present invention has been particularly shown and described, it is apparent that various modifications may be made therein Within the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations be placed on the invention as are imposed by the prior art and set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A snapbolt assembly for holding together mating container sections comprising a keeper member adapted to be aiiixed to one of said sections having a raised keeper post, a hasp assembly adapted to be afiixed to the other of said sections to interlock said keeper post, said hasp assembly comprising a sheet metal mounting member including a raised box-like body portion having a front wall, a bottom wall, and side walls defining a rearwardly opening spring housing chamber and a bendable tongue joined to the top of said front wall and forming an integral extension thereof, a sheet metal hasp member in the form of closed loop having an eye bounded by an uninterrupted frame including a top bar of the loop, said side walls of said raised body portion having upwardly opening means therein for removably receiving the top bar of said hasp member when said bendable tongue extends upwardly from said front wall to support said top bar for pivotal movement about a hinge axis, a bighted leaf spring having front and rear upwardly projecting legs seated within said spring housing chamber with its bight portion abutting said bottom wall and its front leg hearing against said top bar to resiliently restrain the hasp in a catch position, and said bendable tongue being bent rearwardly over said top bar and downwardly against the rear leg of said spring to embrace said spring and confine said top bar and said spring in assembled relation in said hasp assembly.

2. A snapbolt assembly for holding together mating container sections comprising a keeper member adapted to be affixed to one of said sections having a raised keeper post, a hasp assembly adapted to be affixed to the other of said sections to interlock said keeper post, said hasp assembly comprising a sheet metal mounting member including a raised box-like body portion having a front wall, a bottom wall, and side Walls defining a rearwardly opening spring housing chamber and a bendable tongue joined to the top of said front wall and forming an integral extension thereof, a loop-like sheet metal hasp member pivotally supported along a horizontal hinge axis of said raised body portion having spaced legs depending from said hinge axis joined at their lower ends by an integral bridge portion, said hasp member being swingable to a position wherein said body portion, said legs and said bridge jointly frame said keeper post when the latter is near said body portion, said hasp member including a top bar integrally joined with the upper ends of said legs forming a closed loop therewith, said side walls of said raised body portion having recesses for pivotally receiving said top bar opening through an upper edge of said side walls to removably receive said top bar by passage of the closed loop of said hasp member over said bendabie tongue when the latter extends upwardly from said raised body portion and insertion of said top bar into said recesses, a bighted leaf spring having front and rear upwardly projecting legs seated within said spring housing chamber with its bight portion abutting said bottom wall and its front leg bearing against said top bar to resiliently restrain said hasp member in catch position relative to said keeper post, and said bendable tongue being deformed rearwardly and downwardly to provide a top wall and a rear wall portion bounding said spring housing chamber to lap behind the rear leg and compress said spring for confining said spring therein and retaining said top bar in said recesses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

